A drop, whose size may lie between 0.4 and 2.0 mm, is blown from a capillary tube tip as it reaches a given size. Drop size and frequency may be varied independently by controlling liquid flow rate and pulse rate.


Study was conducted in coconut for understanding the importance of chlorophyll fluorescence (Chl. fluorescence) transients in seedling selection for drought tolerance. The observations on Chl. fluorescence transients along with leaf water potential (Ψleaf) were carried out in selected hybrid combinations of Dwarf × Tall during irrigated and water with-held conditions.The data from the whole experiment as well as transformed values were subjected to principal component analysis (PCA).The results clearly indicated significant differences between seedling combinations and between the two periods. The interaction between the combinations and treatment also was found to be significant. The ranking of the combinations based on Chl. fluorescence transients indicated the combinations with LCT as the pollen parent showed better adaptation to water stress conditions followed by Fiji Tall combinations. The PCA considering the Chl. fluorescence transients as well as Ψleaf indicated relative dispersion of the genotypes which imply a high level of genetic diversity for water-stress tolerance in the combinations examined. Further, the observations clearly revealed that performance of seedlings, under stress cannot be predicted from performance in non-stress condition. Based on principal component loadings it can be suggested that Chl. fluorescence transients viz., F0 and t½ and Ψleaf are important traits which can be used to differentiate and screen the coconut seedlings that can adapt to water stress condition.


— The use of networks for communication between the Electronic Control Units (ECU) of a vehicle in production cars dates from the beginning of the 90s. The specific requirements of the different car domains have led to the development of a large number of automotive networks such as LIN, J1850, CAN, FlexRay, MOST, etc. Designing a CAN network is a lengthy task due to required modifications in the software and hardware and then validating the system. To solve this issue, it is proposed to develop a complete new protocol layer for the first time to have Plug and Play capability in CAN architecture. This is the additional application layer proposed on top of the CAN layer. Paper also discusses possibility of implementing this Plug and Play system with time triggered mixed planning based scheduling for real time applications. Finally one proposed test case is discussed to evaluate performance of this solution on the field.


In this preliminary study, 7T imaging was capable of identifying not only intracranial wall thickening but different plaque components such as foamy macrophages and collagen. Signal heterogeneity was typical of advanced atherosclerotic disease. BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: Several studies have attempted to characterize intracranial atherosclerotic plaques by using MR imaging sequences. However, dedicated validation of these sequences with histology has not yet been performed. The current study assessed the ability of ultra-high-resolution 7T MR imaging sequences with different image contrast weightings to image plaque components, by using histology as criterion standard. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Five specimens of the circle of Wills were imaged at 7T with 0.11 × 0.11 mm in-plane-resolution proton attenuation–, T1-, T2-, and T2*-weighted sequences (through-plane resolution, 0.11–1 mm). Tissue samples from 13 fiducial-marked locations (per specimen) on MR imaging underwent histologic processing and atherosclerotic plaque classification. Reconstructed MR images were matched with histologic sections at corresponding locations. RESULTS: Forty-four samples were available for subsequent evaluation of agreement or disagreement between plaque components and image contrast differences. Of samples, 52.3% (n = 23) showed no image contrast heterogeneity; this group comprised solely no lesions or early lesions. Of samples, 25.0% (n = 11, mostly advanced lesions) showed good correlation between the spatial organization of MR imaging heterogeneities and plaque components. Areas of foamy macrophages were generally seen as proton attenuation–, T2-, and T2*- hypointense areas, while areas of increased collagen content showed more ambiguous signal intensities. Five samples showed image-contrast heterogeneity without corresponding plaque components on histology; 5 other samples showed contrast heterogeneity based on intima-media artifacts. CONCLUSIONS: MR imaging at 7T has the image contrast capable of identifying both focal intracranial vessel wall thickening and distinguishing areas of different signal intensities spatially corresponding to plaque components within more advanced atherosclerotic plaques.


On the basis of water cost price of agricultural water-supply in Tarim River basin,according to the cost of water saving irrigation technology,the basin agricultural water price with water-saving is established in this paper.Then,based on the basin agricultural water price and irrigation data,the demand effect model is established to analyze the water-saving effect of the future agricultural water price with water-saving.The research results show that the future adjustment of agricultural water price based on water price with water-saving can greatly reduce irrigation water quantity and enhance the water-saving effect of water price.Furthermore,compared with the condition that only the agricultural water price is enhanced,if the elastic coefficient of agricultural water is enhanced at the same time,the water-saving effect of the water price in Tarim River basin of the latter will be higher.The demand effect analysis of future agricultural water price is relative to the carrying capacity for water price of farmers and the safety of food production and is the key contents needed to discuss for the future adjustment of agricultural water price in Tarim River basin.


While many areas of e-commerce have attracted extensive research efforts, little has been explored on educational and pedagogical challenges in this field. This paper describes the development, implementation and evaluation of a learning cycle for e-commerce courses. The paper concludes with a summary of findings and implications for the future design of similar courses.


Most L1 and L2 Standard Mandarin (SM) perception tests focus on the four lexical tones. However, none take into account the neutral tone (NT) for L2 speakers, and few do for L1 speakers (e.g., Yang, 2010). Pitch onset aside, the relatively short duration of NT syllables is assumed to be their primary perceptual cue (Lin and Yan, 1980). This study tested which perceptual cues are used by L1 and L2 groups. To this end, 9 L1 and 9 L2 learners (L1 British English) participated in a five-way alternative forced-choice tone identification task. Three minimal pair disyllabic tokens containing NT were used as stimuli. Syllables carrying NT were manipulated in PRAAT using steps of 30, 50, 70, and 100% manipulation for pitch and/or duration. Pitch was progressively manipulated to mimic that of a lexical tone, while duration progressively approached that of a lexical tone in second syllable position. This study found that L2s rely primarily on duration to identify NT, while L1s rely primarily on pitch. This expands p...


COMPARISON EFFECTS OF CONVENTIONAL PHYSICAL THERAPY METHODS AND KINESIOLOGY TAPING ON QUALITY OF LIFE AND PAIN IN PATIENTS WITH CHORONIC LOW BACK AND LEG PAIN Özüberk, Burcu Master Thesis Physical Therapy and Rehabilitation Supervisor: Assist. Prof. Nihal BÜKER June 2014, 97 Pages The aims of this study are to compare effects of conventional physical therapy and kinesiology taping methods on the patients with chronic low back and leg pain and to control in terms of pain intensity and quality of life. A total of 48 participants (36 females, 12 males) aged between 20 to 82 years were randomly divided into two groups; kinesiologic taping group and control group. The participants in both groups received a conventional physical therapy program, including hot pack (20 min.), TENS (20 min.), therapotic ultrasound (4 min.) for 10 session. The participants were treated 10 times for two weeks. Kinesiologic taping group received four sessions (2 times a week) a conventional physical therapy plus kinesiology tape on the piriformis muscle and sciatic nerve. Pain intensity (Visual Analog Scale), disability (Oswestry Disability Index), quality of life (Nottingham Health Profile), anxiety symptoms (Beck anxiety Inventory) were measured at baseline and after the treatment program. Intra-group comparisons were performed after treatment. According to the results, in the physical therapy applying group was found to be statistically significant only in quality of life, in the kinesiologic tape applying group was found to be statistically significant in quality of life, pain in the quality of life subset, sleep pain and level of disability (p <0.05). Groups comparison was performed after treatment. According to the results, there is no statistical significance (p ˃ 0.05) in pain, physical competence, anxiety level and quality of life. According to the results of this study, kinesiology taping method has not changed pain, quality of life, anxiety and disability level for participants with chronic low back and leg pain. Also kinesiologic bands did not cause to allergic reactions in those who participated.


Background and purpose: Nitrite and nitrate are considered as pollutant agents of ground water resources that cause several hygienic complications. Agricultural fertilizers that contain nitrate are widely used in north of Iran. This study was carried out to determine the concentrations of nitrite and nitrate in agricultural and drinking water wells in rural areas in Miandoroud, Iran. Materials and methods: In this study, 276 samples were collected from 35 drinking water wells in Miandoroud (Mazandaran province, north of Iran) in March-September 2013. All experiments were performed according to the standard methods examination book. The results were analyzed in SPSS V.16 and Microsoft Excel. Materials and methods: In this study, 276 samples were collected from 36 drinking water and agricultuer wells in Miandoroud (Mazandaran province, north of Iran) in March-September 2013. All experiments were performed according to the standard methods examination book. The results were analyzed in Microsoft Excel. Results: According to the results, the concentration of nitrite was within standard levels established by national guidelines, while in some regions the nitrate concentration was found to be higher than standard levels. In all wells gradual increases were seen in nitrate concentrations. There was a direct relationship between nitrite and nitrate concentrations with depth and temperature. Conclusion: The nitrate concentrations in some wells were higher than standard levels, therefore, more attention should be paid to nitrate pollution in this region.


One of the major drawbacks in the use of the antibiotic erythromycin A is its extreme acid sensitivity, leading to degradation in the stomach following oral administration. The modern derivative clarithromycin degrades by a different mechanism and much more slowly. We have studied the pathway and kinetics of the acid-catalyzed degradation of clarithromycin and of erythromycin B, a biosynthetic precursor of erythromycin A which also has good antibacterial activity, using (1)H NMR spectroscopy. Both drugs degrade by loss of the cladinose sugar ring and with similar rates of reaction. These results suggest that erythromycin B has potential as an independent therapeutic entity, with superior acid stability compared with erythromycin A and with the advantage over clarithromycin of being a natural product.


Objective:To observe the influence of oral olive oil on defecation,blood sugar and blood lipids in stroke patient in order to search for a nursing method which can relieve the constipation of stroke patients and promote the rehabilitation of the brain function.Methods: All 230 patients with stroke received routine nursing care,and orally took olive oil from the starting of observation.The defecation,blood sugar,and blood lipids were compared before and after the interference.Results:There was significant difference in constipation before and after interference(P0.01).The levels of TC,LDL-C,TG,fasting blood sugar,and blood sugar 2 h after the meal were significantly reduced,and those of HDL-C significantly increased after oral administration of olive oil as compared with those before the interference(P0.05,P0.01).Conclusion:Large dosage(30 mL) of oral olive oil has fast effect to constipation of stroke patients;Low dosage(10 mL) of oral olive oil with long time can reduce the blood sugar,modulate the blood lipids,keep bowels open,and prevent or decrease the relapse of stroke.


Background: Hyperuricemiais a common biochemical disturbance in which serum concentration of uric acid exceeds the normal values which is 7.0 mg/dl in men and more than 6.0 mg/dl in women leading to deposition of monosodium urate [MSU] crystals in joints and soft tissues resulting in inner ear functions affection.
Aim of the work: To elaborate the effect of hyperuricemia on the peripheral hearing as well as peripheral vestibular functions.
Subjects and Methods: This study included 40 subjects with hyperuricemia and 40 healthy controls. Participants underwent serum uric acid assay, full history taking, basic audiological evaluation and vestibular evaluation.
Results: 37[92.5%] hyperuricemic subjects had normal peripheral hearing sensitivity, only 3[7.5%] had mild high frequencies sensori-neural hearing loss [SNHL] at 8 kHz. 31[77.5%] Hyperuricemic patients had normal peripheral vestibular functions, only 9[22.5%] subjects had BPPV; They also had higher serum uric acid [SUA] level. No correlation between duration of hyperuricemia and occurrence of BPPV.
Conclusions: The hyperuricemic subjects had a significant higher incidence of BPPV. Other investigations to detect early and subtle changes in cochlear function of hyperuricemic subjects were recommended.


A microencapsulated hardener for epoxy resins which comprises cores comprising an epoxy-resin hardener and shells covering the cores, characterized in that the epoxy-resin hardener comprises as a major component an amine adduct obtained by the reaction of an epoxy resin (e1) with an amine compound, the epoxy-resin hardener has an overall amine value of 370 to 1,000, the epoxy-resin hardener has an average particle diameter of 0.3-12 [mu]m, excluding 0.3 [mu]m, and the shells have, on at least the surface thereof, a combined group (x) that absorbs infrared rays having a wavenumber of 1,630-1,680 cm-1, a combined group (y) that absorbs infrared rays having a wavenumber of 1,680-1,725 cm-1, and a combined group (z) that absorbs infrared rays having a wavenumber of 1,730-1,755 cm-1.


Ambient noise data collected during August 2007 at a site near the Smith Island Marine Sanctuary in North Puget Sound, Washington, depth 100 m, is discussed. This marine sanctuary is representative of a marine mammal habitat, where adverse impacts of noise are of concern. Properties of the ambient noise environment are inspected relating to frequency content and vertical directionality. Wind speed and wave spectral data for correlations were provided by the Smith Island weather station and a nearby NOAA buoy. Two co‐located systems were used to estimate spectral levels of the ambient noise environment. The directional information is provided by one of these systems consisting of a pair of omni‐directional elements vertically separated by 15 cm. Candidate models for noise directionality are tested against the array gain for this simple system evaluated as a function of frequency, giving an approximate picture of the noise density as a function of vertical arrival angle at particular frequencies of interest...


Biocatalysis reactions were performed on microtiter plates (200 µL) aiming at the utilization of fluorogenic substrates (100 µmol L-1) for rapid whole cell screening for epoxide hydrolases (EHs) and Baeyer-Villiger monoxygenases (BVMOs). A final protocol was achieved for EHs, with 3 new enzymatic sources being detected (Agrobacterium tumefaciens, Pichia stipitis, Trichosporom cutaneum). The fluorogenic assay for BVMO did not work as expected. However, an approach to possible variables involved (aeration; pH) provided the first detection of a BVMO activity in T. cutaneum.


In this paper, we study the existence of homoclinic solutions for the fractional Hamiltonian systems with left and right Liouville–Weyl derivatives. We establish some new results concerning the existence and multiplicity of homoclinic solutions for the given system by using Clark's theorem from critical point theory and fountain theorem.


We present a new algorithm for numerical solution of contactproblems without friction. The method is based on enhancing conjugate projector preconditioning into the standard conjugate gradient method for the solution of quadratic programming problems with inequality constraints. We show that the algorithm is correct and discuss the efficiency of the algorithm. The relation of the algorithm to the domain decomposition methods is also explained. The paper is supplied with numerical experiment.


The authors used E‐rosette formation and OKT3 reactivity to determine the percent of T‐cells in lymph nodes involved by B‐cell non‐Hodgkin's lymphomas (B‐NHL) and by Hodgkin's disease (HD). The percent of helper and suppressor/cytotoxic T‐cells was determined by reactivity with OKT4 and OKT8, respectively. T‐cells were also analyzed for two signs of activation: acquisition of Ia antigens and loss of acid a‐naphthyl acetate esterase (ANAE) activity. The results were compared with those of lymph nodes exhibiting benign lymphoid hyperplasia (BLH). The percentage of T‐cells ranged from 50% to 82%, mean 63 ± 13%, in 25 cases of BLH, and from 6% to 62%, mean 23 ± 11%, in 51 cases of B‐NHL. The OKT4/T8 ratio was 1.0 to 6.2, mean 3.4 ± 2.2, in the cases of BLH, and 0.5 to 5.1, mean 2.4 ± 1.3, in the cases of B‐NHL. There was no obvious or significant correlation between the percent of T‐cells or the OKT4/T8 ratio and the surface immunoglobulin isotype expressed by the neoplastic B‐cells, the morphologic category of B‐NHL, or the clinical stage of disease. Activated T‐cells were ≦3% in the cases of BLH and B‐NHL. Fifteen lymph nodes involved by HD contained 44% to 96%, mean 74%, E+ (T) cells. Five of these 15 cases contained a significant number of E−OKT3+ cells suggesting that E‐rosette formation is not always a reliable T‐cell marker in HD. Three other cases contained a large number of E+OKT3− cells. The OKT4/T8 ratio ranged from 0.4 to 21.7, mean 6.7 ± 5.3, in these cases, representing the most significant T‐cell subset imbalances in this series. Large numbers of Ia+E+ and/or E+ ANAE− cells, presumably activated T‐cells, were present in 7 of these 15 cases of HD. These studies demonstrate the wide variation in the percent of T‐cells and in the T‐cell subset distribution in lymph nodes exhibiting benign lymphoid hyperplasia and in lymph nodes involved by B‐cell‐derived non‐Hodgkin's lymphomas and Hodgkin's disease.


Analyses of pollen, diatoms, XRF geochemistry, and pigments provide a unique window into how an insular ecosystem in Mauritius responded to an extreme drought event 4200 years ago. We provide a reconstruction of regional vegetation change and local wetland development under influence of sea level rise and inferred climate change between 4400 and 4100 cal. yr BP. Our multi-proxy data evidence a severe drought between 4190 and 4130 cal. yr BP, which ultimately led to mass mortality of larger vertebrates, including two species of giant tortoises and dodos in a <2-ha region. This prolonged drought around the Indian Ocean is recorded in many regions dependent on monsoon precipitation and is suggested to cause the collapse of human societies in East Africa and India. We demonstrate a direct relation between the mass mortality events in the Mare aux Songes (MAS) rock valley and the 4200 cal. yr BP drought. MAS represents a fresh water source that attracted and concentrated vertebrates. Abrupt increased aridity induced regional fires on Mauritius and caused decreased water levels, and a shrinking water surface resulting in further concentration of the animals in this coastal site. Upconing of the saline wedge underlying the fresh water source induced progressive salinization. The excrements of the animals produced hypertrophic conditions that, combined with salinization and high temperatures, created a suitable environment for potentially toxic cyanobacteria. These factors led to a deadly cocktail, resulting in the death of 100,000s of vertebrates by intoxication, dehydration, trampling, and miring, and promoted a unique conservation of fossils. The '4.2 ka megadrought' likely induced similar bottlenecks elsewhere in the SW Indian Ocean region.


Men who have sex with men (MSM) and transgender women (TGW) in Brazil experience high rates of HIV infection. We examined the clinical and economic outcomes of implementing a pre‐exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) programme in these populations.


Tumor necrosis factorαwas isolated in 1984,on the basis of their ability to kill tunor cells in vitro and to cause hemorrhagic nectosis of transplantable tumors in mice.In mammals an inflammatory insult will result in a cytokine cascade.Tumor necrosis factorα(TNFα)usually is the first cytokine to appear,followed immediately by interleukin-1β(IL-1β)surge.IL-1βand TNFαare primary cytokines and often work synergistically.Tremendous progress has been made in cytokines cloned and sequenced from fish in recent years,especially TNFαet al.TNFαis one of a number of members of the TNF superfamily.It is a type @ transmembrane glycoproteins that contains a hydrophobic transmembrane domain,an extracellular C-terminal domain and a cytoplasmic tail.TNFαcan be processed by a metalloproteinase to release an active 17kD soluble peptide from the extracellular portion of the 26 kD membrane-bound precursor.Active TNFαcomprises a trimer composed of three identical TNF subunits.The TNF αgene is an important mediator in resistance against parasitic,bacterial and viral infections,and it also plays other important therapeutic functions within the body,which include resistance to tumors,sleep regulation and embryonic development.It is produced by several immune cells,such as monocytes/macrophages,NK cells,neutrophils and activated B cells.Many activites of TNFαare mediated by bind to a cell surface receptor(TNFR).These two receptors are 55kD and 75kDTNF receptors.TNF -binding to the 55kD receptor can cause cell apoptosis,but binding to the 75kD receptor only cause signal-transducing.With the development of the technique in gene cloing,TNFαgene and the receptors have been cloned from several fish and the expression also studied.This paper reviews the functions of the gene TNFαand receptors and the studies in the fish recenty.


BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: To determine whether level IV lymph nodes can be saved in the elective lateral neck dissection (LND) as a treatment for patients with squamous cell carcinoma of the supraglottic larynx. SUBJECTS AND METHODS: From January 1997 to May 2002, 42 patients with supraglottic squamous cell carcinoma and a clinically N0 neck who underwent an elective LND were studied prospectively. The incidence of pathological metastasis to the level IV lymph nodes and a regional recurrence after an elective LND were evaluated. RESULTS: Of the 42 patients, 10 (24%) had lymph nodes positive for microscopic metastatic squamous cell carcinoma. Two (5%) of the 42 patients had involvement of the level IV lymph nodes, whose clinical T-stages were above cT3. None of the clinical T1 or T2 tumors showed level IV nodal metastasis. There were two cases (5%) of the ipsilateral neck recurrence: these patients developed recurrence in the level II and stomal area, respectively. CONCLUSION: The level IV lymph node metastasis was rare in this study, and nodal recurrence after LND in squamous cell carcinoma of the supraglottic larynx was infrequent. Therefore, this region may be preserved in elective LND for patients with early squamous cell carcinoma of the supraglottic larynx


In preparation for a marine assault by the coalition forces, the Iraqi Army heavily mined Kuwait`s coastal zone and the oil fields. Over a million mines were placed on the Kuwait soil. Burning of 732 oil wells in the State of Kuwait due to the Iraqi invasion caused damages which had direct and indirect effect on environment. A total of 20-22 million barrels of spilled crude oil were collected in natural desert depressions and drainage network which formed more than 300 oil lakes. The total area covered with oil reached 49 km{sup 2}. More than 375 trenches revealed the existence of hard, massive caliche (CaCO{sub 3}) subsoil which prevent leached oil from reaching deeper horizons, and limited the maximum depth of penetration to 1.75 m. Total volume of soil contaminated reached 22,652,500 m{sup 3} is still causing environmental problems and needs an urgent cleaning and rehabilitation. Kuwait Oil Company has recovered approximately 21 million barrels from the oil lakes since the liberation of Kuwait. In our examined representative soil profiles the oil penetration was not deeper than 45 cm. Infiltration rate, soil permeability, grain size distribution, aggregates formation and water holding capacity were assessed. 15 refs., 5 figs., 5 tabs.


In this paper,the effect,composition and production Process of Rotary Expander Mill in Product Line,a few design characteristics of Rotary Expander Mill,and the place needing to pay attention to in process were introduced,peculiarl demands that the Rotary Expander Mill arisen in procedure of production and improvement and development in equipment the days to come were offered,and the necessary reference and helping for consumer and the designer were provided.


The invention discloses a clamping device for air compressor subassembly. The clamping device comprises a fixing seat, a suspension shaft and a gear fixing rack. The fixing seat is a cavity provided with an open end, a U-shaped notch clamped with the neck of an air compressor cylinder head and a vertically-through gear fixing rack avoiding groove are formed in the cavity, and a gear fixing rack limiting groove is formed at the tail end of the gear fixing rack avoiding groove. The suspension shaft is provided with a gear fixing rack positioning necking section and fixed on the bottom surface of a bottom plate of the cavity, and the gear fixing rack positioning necking section directly faces the gear fixing rack limiting groove. The gear fixing rack comprises a moving support and a fixing gear ring, the moving frame is an annular body provided with a connecting block, a shaft hole matched with the suspension shaft is formed in the connecting block, and the fixing gear ring is matched with an air compressor gear and movably mounted in the annular body. The clamping device can clamp the air compressor at one step, and is safe to operate and higher in efficiency, and two different processes of tightening an air inlet and outlet connector and a gear nut are completed.


The article is devoted to the analysis of the current problems in legal regulation of holding a public event in the form of single picketing. It reveals such regulatory legal acts as directly regulating issues of holding public events as well as those that regulate social relations including mentioned above and procedural aspects of bringing to legal responsibility.


The pairing problem is to enable two devices, which share no prior context with each other, to agree upon a security association that they can use to protect their subsequent communication. Secure pairing should o®er guarantees of the association partner's identity and it should be resistant to eavesdropping or to a man-in the middle attack. We propose a user friendly solution to this problem. Keys extracted from images of the participants are used for authentication. Details of the SAfE pairing system are presented along with a discussion of the security features and a usability analysis.


The parameters of the 183 W NMR for a large number of polyoxotungstates and ESR W5+ spectra of their reduced by one electron forms are analyzed together with their structural characteristics. Two correlations between the d-chemical shifts of 183 W NMR and values of W5+ are found. For closely related heteropoly tungstates the values decrease with the increasing shielding of W. For the polytungstates with increasing number of corner sharing oxygen atoms the value increases with the increasing shielding. The close similarities in the behavior of the chemicals shifts of 95 Mo NMR and tensor deduced from Mo5+ ESR have been shown for closely related structural types of polymolybdates and polytungstates.


Research has shown that the flight endurance of an electric propelled unmanned air vehicle (UAV) is significantly improved by reducing the weight of the aircraft more so than increasing the battery capacity [1]. Moreover the structure and the battery each contribute typically 20-40% to the total UAV mass [1]. The integration of battery and structure can theoretically reduce the total weight by reducing both the structure mass and the battery mass. The first is reduced by using the battery components as load bearing elements, while the second by eliminating fitting interfaces. In addition, rather that bulky, centralized batteries, the integration of multiple lightweight batteries into the structure enables distributed power supply and storage, thereby reducing the amount of wiring. Hence a composite structure with load bearing and energy storage capabilities would increase the system performance by saving weight and volume. However, to date, system performance improvements have been achieved and documented only for low mechanical stress demanding applications [2]. The batteries embedded into the structure have been designed to be active [2-5] in terms of load bearing capabilities, or passive [6]. While the first approach is the most promising in the long term because it utilizes the battery active components (i.e. cathode, anode, electrolyte, separators, current collectors) as structural members, the current battery technology based on lithium intercalation compounds is such that high specific energy and good mechanical properties cannot be contemporary achieved. The passive approach has led to greater battery performance because it requires the active components only to withstand the applied strain, and relies only on the battery substrate as load bearing element. The study presented hereinafter is part of a research project that follows the second approach and utilizes thin film, solid state, Li-ion batteries (TFB), Fig.1 and Fig.2, made by physical vapor deposition on a muscovite substrate. The battery lamina is subsequently integrated in a composite laminate, Fig.3. Objectives of the study include the assessment of TFB limits of process-ability in epoxy-based composite curing environment. Although thin film batteries (TFB) technology is still at an early development stage, among today"s available battery types TFBs have the highest specific energy. All TFBs utilized in this research are made by Front Edge Technology (Baldwin Park, CA) under license from the Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL). The cathode material is lithium cobalt oxide, the anode is Li-metal and the solid state electrolyte is LiPON. The active components are encased by two muscovite substrates bound by a polymer layer of Surlyn sealant, leading to a total TFB thickness of 150 μm, Fig.2. Critical temperature thresholds for the TFB materials are summarized in Tab.1. The TFB cell is a 1 in by 1 in square with nominal voltage of 4.2V, capacity of 1 mAh and specific energy higher than 300 Wh kg -1 .


This brochure summarises the content of a report prepared for the UK Climate Impacts Programme (UKCIP) and published by the Climatic Research Unit at the University of East Anglia and the Hadley Centre at the Met. Office. The report describes how the climate of the United Kingdom may change during the next 100 years. In this description, we take into account natural climate variations as well as a range of future greenhouse gas emissions scenarios and different assumed sensitivities of the climate system to these emissions. The resulting climate scenarios are referred to as the UKCIP98 climate scenarios and follow from earlier studies that were published in 1991 and 1996 by the Climate Change Impacts Review Group of the, then, Department of the Environment. These earlier CCIRG91 and CCIRG96 climate scenarios for the UK have been widely used in climate impacts assessments in the UK. The scenarios described here replace these earlier efforts.


Background Birth related perineal trauma can have a major impact on women's health. The correct assessment and repair of perineal injuries are procedures that require knowledge and skill. Currently, there is no agreement as to what constitutes an effective training programme. We produced and tested an interactive distance learning multi-professional training package called ePEARLS. This was developed as a tool for the delivery and assessment of perineal repair training in line with UK evidence based practise. Methods The main aim of this project was to develop, refine and assess ePEARLS as a tool for the assimilation of knowledge and skill to clinicians involved in Intrapartum care. Using pre and post-training objective assessments for both knowledge and skill, we compared the effect of delivering training using ePEARLS compared to other training models in three independent multi-professional groups from three different maternity units. Results Thirty-eight participants were involved in the study. Improvements in knowledge scores were marginally significant in all three groups. However, more marked improvements in skill scores were noted in response to the different training models. Conclusion ePEARLS is the first multi-professional interactive perineal trauma management e-learning package that has been formally tested against other training models. The potential cost effectiveness of this package makes it far superior to other methods of delivering training and maintaining competency.


An approximate formula of the current on a buried conductor due to resistive coupling between an alternating electrified railway and a buried conductor crossing with any angle is given. At a right angle, it is simplified to the result given by E.D. Sunde (1968).


80Background: Merkel cell carcinoma (MCC) is a rare, aggressive skin cancer. In a phase 2 trial in previously treated metastatic MCC (mMCC; JAVELIN Merkel 200, NCT02155647), avelumab, a fully human IgG1 anti–PD-L1 antibody, showed durable responses and a manageable safety profile, including confirmed objective response rate (ORR) of 31.8% (95.9% CI 21.9-43.1), 6-mo duration of response (DOR) rate estimate of 92%, and 6-mo progression-free survival (PFS) rate of 40% (95% CI 29-50). We report post-hoc subgroup analyses from this trial. Methods: Pts with mMCC and prior disease progression on chemotherapy received avelumab 10 mg/kg (1h IV) Q2W. Tumors were assessed every 6 wks (RECIST v1.1) by independent review. Kaplan-Meier method was used to estimate 6-mo DOR and PFS rate. Results: 88 pts were treated with avelumab and followed for ≥ 6 mos (data cutoff Mar 3, 2016). Responses occurred in all subgroups analyzed (Table). Trends of higher ORR and 6-mo PFS rates were seen in pts with fewer prior lines, lower d...


High-order accurate summation-by-parts (SBP) finite difference (FD) methods constitute efficient numerical methods for simulating large-scale hyperbolic wave propagation problems.
Traditional SBP FD operators that approximate first-order spatial derivatives with central-difference stencils often have spurious unresolved wave-modes in their numerical solutions.
On marginally resolved computational grids, these spurious wave-modes have the potential to destroy the accuracy of numerical solutions for a first-order hyperbolic partial differential equation, such as the elastic wave equation.
To ensure the accuracy of numerical solutions of the three space dimensional (3D) elastic wave equation in complex geometries, we discretise the 3D elastic wave equation with a pair of non-central (upwind) finite-difference stencils, on boundary-conforming curvilinear meshes.
Using the energy method we prove that the numerical method is numerically stable, and energy conserving.
Furthermore, computational results show the robustness of the scheme.
We present numerical simulations of the 3D elastic wave equation in heterogeneous media with complex non-planar free surface topography, including numerical simulations of community developed seismological benchmark problems.
Our results show that the upwind SBP operators are more robust and less prone to numerical dispersion errors on marginally resolved meshes when compared to traditional SBP operators, thereby increasing efficiency.


Base rates of impairment on the Temporal Orientation Scale (TOS; Benton et al.,) were reported for normal elderly (n=210) and patients with either Alzheimer's disease (AD; n=112) or Parkinson's disease (PD; n=189). The study hypothesis was that disorientation would be more frequent in ADs than in controls and PDs. Base rates for controls, PDs, and ADs were 1.00%, 22.22%, and 78.60% when disorientation was defined as ≥3 errors and 1.00%, 18.52%, and 72.30% when impairment was suggested by ≥4 errors. Receiver operating characteristic (ROC) analyses indicated excellent discrimination between controls and AD (AUC=0.919, 95% CI=0.879-0.958) along with good Sn and excellent Sp. Conversely, discrimination between control and PD groups was poor (AUC=0.642, 95% CI=0.587- 0.697) with low Sn and excellent specificity.


: 1002 Job insecurity and health-related quality of life a cross-sectional study in Sweden Fredrik Norström Umeå University, Sweden, Umeå, Sweden Background: Research shows that concern about job loss impacts negatively on health. However, no studies have examined how job loss affects health-related quality of life. The aim of this study is to examine how job insecurity affects health-related quality of life among Swedish employees. Methods: The sample comprised 967 participants (39%) out of 2,500 randomly selected individuals. They answered a questionnaire i174 International Journal of Epidemiology, 2021, Vol. 50, Supplement 1 D ow naded rom http/academ ic.p.com /ije/art/50/Supplem ent_1/dy8.493/6361843 by gest on 11 O cber 2021 that included a question about the risk of involuntary unemployment during the following three years and the EuroQol 5 dimensions (EQ-5D) instrument. EQ-5D responses were translated to a qualityadjusted life year (QALY) score with anchor points 1 (perfect health) and 0 (death). Of employed respondents without recent unemployment, 83 considered themselves to have at least some risk of unemployment, while 602 felt at most a small risk of unemployment. Inverse probability-weighted propensity scores were used in the analyses to estimate a risk difference. Gender, age, education level, marital status, and previous health were included as covariates. Results: There was a statistically significant lower QALY score by 0.068 points for those with job insecurity compared with those without job insecurity. There were also statistically significantly more problems due to job insecurity for usual activities (9.5% more), pain/discomfort (13.3% more), anxiety/depression (16.6% more), and EQ-5D's Visual Analogue Scale (4.5 point lower score). Conclusions: There was a strong indication that job insecurity affects health-related quality of life. Further studies are needed to better understand how job insecurity affects health. Key messages: More stable job positions should be prioritized by policy makers. Abstract #: 1452 A Cohort Study of Comorbidities of Diabetes in Regional Australia: 1452 A Cohort Study of Comorbidities of Diabetes in Regional Australia Orange NSW, Australia. The study involved 137 de-identified adults living with T2DM. HbA1c and other biochemical and haematological records were reviewed. Other data included clinical notes including comorbidities, and complications. The cohort was separated into 2 groups: well-controlled versus poor glycaemic control. The resulting data were analysed for frequency, using the statistical software for Microsoft Excel. Results: There were 37/137 of the T2DM cohort with baseline HbA1c of 6.5%, implying 73% poor glycaemic control in the region, at first time of testing. According to the clinical notes, the well-controlled group showed 29.7% comorbidities, including 2.7% queried infection. Among the 100 cases with abnormal HbA1c, comorbidities were observed in 22% including 4% who had infections. Conclusions: Our observation implies no less comorbidities in wellcontrolled diabetes. However, the higher percentage of infection among the poorly controlled group is confirmation of need for continuous health promotion among people living with diabetes. Key messages: This primary health statistic suggests the need to monitor for comorbidities equally, whether poor or well-controlled diabetes Abstract #: 1450 Exeperiential Note on Enhancing Epidemiological Studies h on: 1450 Exeperiential Note on Enhancing Epidemiological Studies h on


The present paper expands details and confirms the transition mechanism between two subsequent polygonal patterns of the hollow-core vortex. Using power spectral analysis, we confirm in this work that the transition from any N-gon to (N+1)-gon pattern observed within a hollow-core vortex of shallow rotating flows occurs in two steps. The regime was quasi-periodic before the frequencies lock (synchronization). The ratios of locking frequencies were found to be equal to (N-1)/N. Keywords—Patterns, quasi-periodic, swirling, synchronization, transition.


1The Rogosin Institute, Division of Nephrology and Hypertension, Weill Cornell Medical College, New York, New York 2Department of Medicine, Vanderbilt University Medical Center, Nashville, Tennessee 3Departments of Public Health Sciences and Medicine, Division of Nephrology, Loyola University Chicago, Maywood, Illinois 4Renal Section, Veterans Affairs Pittsburgh Healthcare System University Drive Division, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania 5Department of Medicine, University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania 6Department of Medicine, Mount Sinai School of Medicine, New York, New York 7Department of Medicine, Yale University School of Medicine, New Haven, Connecticut


In this study better germination was obtained by mechanical scarification for Acacia farnesiana, A. benthemii, Albizia lebbek and Cassia fistula . Though it will be difficult to implement in nursery requiring large stocks, the effeort is recommended as germination rates increased many fold over other treatments and control, thus requiring less seed for achieving large uniform stock.


At any given time, around half the incarcerated population in the United States works full-time. A large majority of incarcerated workers are engaged in "prison housework," doing laundry, working in the kitchen, or providing janitorial services, etc. A smaller portion of individuals work in prison industries to produce goods and services for both government agencies and private corporations. National estimates for the annual value of prison and jail industrial output come to around $2 billion. Despite this, the average wage for incarcerated individuals working in state- owned industries is anywhere between $0.33 to $1.41 per hour.
Mass incarceration and the prison industry have become seamlessly intertwined with America's racially stratified economy. Wal-Mart, Victoria's Secret, Boeing, Microsoft, and Starbucks are some of the many major U.S. companies that have partnered with prison industries in the past to profit off of free or underpaid labor. In the absence of clear Supreme Court ruling or guidance from Congress, it remains unclear whether incarcerated workers may be considered "employees" as defined by the Fair Labor Standards Act ("FLSA") and therefore subject to the federal minimum wage protections. Without any guidance, lower courts have developed a patchwork of conflicting standards and formalistic dichotomies to address the issue of FLSA coverage for incarcerated workers.
This Note analyzes the circuit split on the question of FLSA coverage and provides recommendations on how the Supreme Court should decide the issue. This Note goes on to advance a new "but-for" test for courts to adopt when deciding which kinds of incarcerated workers should be covered by the FLSA.


13518 An innovative treatment strategy for patients with lung cancer is the targeting of tumor associated antigens with cellular effector cells. The telomerase catalytic subunit (hTERT) is an attra...


Objective:To discuss the effect,reduction skill and theory of on-off technique and poking reduction with internal fixation by LCP on comminuted femoral intertrochanteric fracture.Methods:A retrospective analysis of 35 patients with comminuted femoral intertrochanteric fracture was done,who received on-off technique and poking reduction with internal fixation by LCP from July 2007 to October 2009.Of the 35 patients,there were 12 cases of A2.1 type,10 of A2.2 type and 13 of A2.3 type.The duration of surgery,the times of using C-arm X-ray engine,the healing conditions and Sanders scores were analyzed.Results:The average duration of surgery was 55 minutes,the average times of using C-arm X-ray engine was four,all of the fractures obtained anatomical reduction,and got bony union in a half year follow-up.According to Sander-grades,the effect was excellent in 10 cases,good in 22 and poor in 3.Conclusion:There is definite effect of using on-off technique and poking reduction with internal fixation by LCP on comminuted femoral intertrochanteric fracture,with shorter duration of surgery,less using of C-arm X-ray engine,and simple performance.


INTRODUCTION : Leukemia is the seventh leading cause of cancer death in the United States (US) in 2021. The Mortality Incidence Rate Ratio, also known as Mortality-to-Incidence Ratio (MIR), is calculated by dividing the mortality rate by the incidence rate for selected cancers and population. The MIR provides a population-based indicator of cancer survival which has previously been used to assess healthcare disparities among different countries. Here weevaluated the potential association between leukemia MIR and state-based health disparities in the US.
 METHODS: Leukemia (AML, CML, ALL, CLL and other leukemias) MIRs for 2008-2017 were obtained from United States Cancer Statistics (USCS) database provided by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). America's Health Rankings (AHR), a partnership of the United Health Foundation and the American Public Health Association, evaluates the nation's health on a state-by-state basis by using weighted measures in 5 different categories (25% for Behaviors, 22.5% for Community & Environment, 12.5% for Policy, 15% for Clinical Care, and 25% for Outcomes). AHR then determines state health rankings and reflects state health disparities based on these specific factors. Here we analyzed the potential association between leukemia MIRs and state health rankings by linear regression.
 RESULTS: From 2008 to 2017, a total of 489,037 people were diagnosed with leukemia and 231,069 people died from leukemia in the US. The 10-year average of age-adjusted incidence rate and mortality rate were 14.2 and 6.7 per 100,000 population respectively. The average MIR between all states was calculated to be 0.470. As seen in Table 1, the lowest MIR (best survival) was found in Florida (0.374), New York (0.391), and New Jersey (0.412) with AHR 34, 19 and 11 respectively. The highest MIR (worst survival) was found in Mississippi (0.579), Wyoming (0.570), and Ohio (0.569) with AHR 50, 24 and 37 respectively. According to AHR, over the last decade, the states with the highest health rankings were reported in Vermont (No. 1), Hawaii (No. 2), and Massachusetts (No. 3) with MIR 0.508, 0.439 and 0.502 respectively. The states with the lowest health rankings were reported in Arkansas (No. 48), Louisiana (No. 49), and Mississippi (No. 50) with MIR 0.559, 0.503 and 0.579 respectively. In our analysis, states with better health rankings were significantly associated with lower MIRs (R 2=0.232, P<0.001), as seen in Figure 1.
 CONCLUSIONS: There is a remarkable geographic difference in leukemia MIRs in the US between 2008-2017. Leukemia MIR was significantly associated with state health rankings reported by the AHR. Although the quality of clinical care for leukemia patients remains to be an important predictor of mortality, our findings suggest that other aggregate determinants of health, including social, economic, and community and physical environment may also play a vital role in influencing leukemia survival. More in-depth analysis of these data focusing on specific leukemia subtypes as well as other factors (race, gender, age) may be helpful in identifying and addressing other non-medical issues negativity impacting on leukemia outcomes in different geographical regions in the United States.
 Figure 1 Figure 1.

 Wang: Kura Oncology: Consultancy, Honoraria, Other: Advisory board, steering committee, Speakers Bureau; AbbVie: Consultancy, Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees; Astellas: Consultancy, Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees; Stemline Therapeutics: Consultancy, Honoraria, Other: Advisory board, Speakers Bureau; Kite Pharmaceuticals: Consultancy, Honoraria, Other: Advisory Board; Takeda: Consultancy, Honoraria, Other: Advisory board; Pfizer: Consultancy, Honoraria, Other: Advisory Board, Speakers Bureau; Novartis: Consultancy, Honoraria, Other: Advisory Board; Mana Therapeutics: Consultancy, Honoraria; BMS/Celgene: Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees; Genentech: Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees; GlaxoSmithKline: Consultancy, Honoraria, Other: Advisory Board; Jazz Pharmaceuticals: Consultancy, Honoraria, Other: Advisory Board; DAVA Oncology: Consultancy, Speakers Bureau; Rafael Pharmaceuticals: Other: Data safety monitoring committee; Gilead: Consultancy, Honoraria, Other: Advisory board; Daiichi Sankyo: Consultancy, Honoraria, Other: Advisory board; PTC Therapeutics: Consultancy, Honoraria, Other: Advisory board; Genentech: Consultancy; MacroGenics: Consultancy.


After reviewing the status of ultrasonic testing for nondestructive inspection of seamless drill casing and line pipe (6 to 18 in. diameter and up to 1/2 in. wall thickness) in the context of American Petroleum Institute Specification API 5 AX, the UK's Tube Investments Research Laboratories, British Gas Corp., and the Netherlands' Shell Research Laboratories describe recent research aimed at understanding the response of an angled shear wave beam impinging on a surface-breaking defect. The work's conclusions are relevant to any ultrasonic testing system in which the acceptability of a surface-breaking defect is decided solely on the basis of signal amplitudes: (1) Wall-thickness measurements along and around the pipe are necessary, ultrasonic measurements being most appropriate; (2) Probe parameters such as angle of incidence, wavelength, and near field length should be rigidly defined. (3) A radial parallel-sided (P) notch is not a satisfactory ultrasonic calibration reference, particularly at angles greater than 45/sup 0/F. (4) Ultrasonic beams must be propagated in both directions around the pipe for the longitudinal defect scan and along the pipe for the transverse defect scan. (5) For pipes with thickness/diameter ratios less than or equal to 0.1, the ultrasonic beam incidence angle should be 35/sup 0/more » to 45/sup 0/. (6) The characteristics of ultrasonic flaw-detection equipment shoud be established and periodically rechecked by a test oscillator.« less


A campaign took place in the winter 2006/2007 comprising measurements of many air pollution components at two sites: a wood smoke exposed site within the village Slagslunde, and a background site 500 m outside of the village. The report describes the campaign and its results. A central result is a so-called 'wood smoke source profile', which relates several measures of wood smoke pollution to each other. This is based on a 'cleaned' data set, for which the effect of other sources than wood smoke was small. The wood smoke profile links the measures PM2.5, particle volume, soot, monosaccharide anhydrides (levoglucosan and mannosan) and different PAHs to each other. Particle number N does not have a close link to the other measures.


The building envelope shape is the most salient design characteristic and has a significant influence on energy consumption during the post-occupancy service life. However, during the conceptual design phase, envelope shape-finding is defined without considering post-occupancy service life energy performance. This warranted absence of a priori knowledge on shape-based convective heat transfer affects indoor environment quality and impedes the ability to meet post-occupancy energy performance efficiency requirements. In addition, there is no suitable method for designers by which to make such calculations. In an attempt to optimize energy consumption and reduce the post-occupancy service life in efficiency, this research aims to determine building shape energy efficiency using a simulation and optimization process that can facilitate the designer's task during the conceptual design phase. For this purpose, a case study research method and simulation-based particle swarm optimization process was conducted. Foremost, it is pertinent to understand building shape behavior in order to improve energy efficiency. For this, a longitudinal case study set out to collect real time energy data and historical building data by a selected unit of analysis Block C 02, Faculty of Geoinformation and Real Estate, Universiti Teknologi Malaysia. The building shapes were simulated using thermal transient simulation for heat transfer analysis. However, results indicated that a proportionate increase in building shape compactness, aspect ratio or coefficient can adversely affect building shape thermal performance, affirming the proposition that convective heat transfer and solar radiation have a considerable influence on energy consumption based on shape geometrical characteristics. Following this, a varied combination of shapes, wall window ratio and glazing energy performance was then analyzed using particle swarm optimization to determine the optimal envelope shape combination. The results confirmed that, as the shape achieves its geometric efficiency, it appropriates the wall window ratio and glazing proportions that reduce convective heat transfer. A design approach that can determine shape energy efficiency based on simulation and particle swarm optimization was then developed. Further, sensitivity of this design approach was calibrated using comparative testing and empirical validation. The findings provide a benchmark of energy consumption based on a combination of envelope shape characteristics, wall window ratio and glazing. In conclusion, this research has succeeded in transforming the conventional shape-finding process into an integrated simulation-based shape optimization for energy efficiency. The major contribution of this research study was that it developed a design approach for building shape energy efficiency and optimization. It can facilitate the task of designers during the conceptual design phase by disposing of their one-off design solutions and making it feasible to conceptualize varied building shapes for energy efficient design solutions.


Thermally induced structural modification of a nm-order multilayer of Mo/Si was investigated by spectral reflect-ance of soft X-rays from laser-produced plasma. Dependence of reflectivity of the nm-order multilayers on the incidence angle of soft X-rays indicated that some structural changes start to occur at 300°C and that the nm-order multilayer structures shrink at 500°C because of the formation of Mo-silicide. These results were found to be consistent with the cross-sectional transmission electron microscope observations. It is clearly shown that measurement of spectral reflectance of soft X-rays from laser plasma is a powerful method for analyzing nm-order structural modifications of multilayers.


Ed Sullivan dominated Sunday night primetime television for a quarter of a century with his extremely popular and inclusive variety show (first called Toast of the Town, then The Ed Sullivan Show). A former (and concurrent) Broadway columnist, Sullivan adored the mythology of Broadway and promoted its history—in song and performance—on practically every broadcast. Expanding on the reach of radio, television allowed for millions of Americans to get their first glimpse of Broadway magic through Sullivan's promotion of current shows and tributes to giants of the past. The musical Bye Bye Birdie paid homage to the great impresario of the television age by writing him into the show. Sullivan's domination of the airwaves also nearly parallels the so-called Golden Age of the Broadway musical.


We have observed a strong electrorheologial (ER) effect of a suspension of fine aluminum particles in liquid nitrogen. The particles have diameter ~ 10μm and an insulate surface. In an ac field, aluminum particles quickly form chains across the two electrodes. The chains vibrate vigorously as the liquid nitrogen has a constant random flow motion caused by bubbles. In addition to low temperature, liquid nitrogen has extremely low viscosity, and low conductivity. These special properties enable us to observe several interesting phenomena which are absent in ER fluids at room temperature. We have determined the rheological properties of our cryogenic ER fluid.


The invention provides a fan. The fan comprises a fan head, a supporting part and a chassis, wherein one end of the supporting part is connected with the fan head and the other end of the supporting part is connected with the chassis. The fan is characterized in that a heat generation part is arranged in the chassis. The invention also provides a circuit control method. According to the technical scheme of the invention, the heat generation part is arranged in the chassis; one hand, the fan head and the supporting part can be fixed on the chassis to realize the air blowing function, and on the other hand, the chassis can be separately separated and the foot warming function is realized through the heat generation part on the chassis, so that the chassis of the fan can be utilized fully; a foot warmer and the fan are combined, so that occupied space is reduced.


This article analyzes the structure of data about the key disk of BeckMan Array 360 System,studies the prin-ciple of work about HD-COPY,expounds the mechanism and process abot backuping the key disk of Beck Man Array 360 System with HD-COPY.


Wherever anisotropic behaviour in physical measurements or models is encountered matrices provide adequate means to describe this anisotropy. Prominent examples are the di usion tensor magnetic resonance imaging in medical imaging or the stress tensor in civil engineering. As most measured data these matrix-valued data are also polluted by noise and require restoration. The restoration of scalar images corrupted by noise via minimization of an energy functional is a well-established technique that o ers many advantages. A convenient way to achieve this minimization is second order cone programming (SOCP). The goal of this article is to transfer this method to the matrix-valued setting. It is shown how SOCP can be extended to minimize energy functionals de ned for matrix elds. Furthermore, new functionals for the regularization of matrix data are proposed and the corresponding Euler-Lagrange equations derived by means of matrix di erential calculus. Numerous experiments substantiate the usefulness of the proposed methods for the restoration of matrix elds.


BACKGROUND: Irradiation with diode laser and biomimetic remineralization are important methods in the treatment of hypersensitivity and dentin remineralization.
AIM: The aim of the study was evaluation of the effect of diode laser versus the effect of sodium trimetaphosphate (STMP) with polyacrylic acid (PAA) on obliteration of dentinal tubules (DT).
MATERIALS AND METHODS: Sixty dentin discs with a thickness of 2 mm were prepared and conditioned with EDTA for 15 s. Then, all dentin discs were divided into three main groups (20 discs each) according to the treatment method; control, diode laser treated, and STMP with PAA group (biomimetic group). Each group was subdivided into four subgroups (five discs each) according to the storage time; 2 h (To), 1 month (T1), 2 months (T2), and 3 months (T3), respectively. All samples were prepared to be analyzed after each time interval using environmental scanning electron microscope (ESEM). Comparison of differences of DT obliteration percentage made on each group before and after the treatment were performed using computer-assisted digital image analysis.
RESULTS: Control group showed the least DT obliteration percentage, the samples of laser group recorded statistically significant increase in DT obliteration percentage at To in comparison to the biomimetic group. Meanwhile, at T1, there was no statistically significant difference between both laser and biomimetic groups. However, statistically significant decrease was recorded in laser group at T2 and T3, respectively.
CONCLUSION: Irradiation with diode laser and biomimetic remineralization using PAA with STMP are a promising methods to obliterate opened DT effectively.


We further explored the radius-to-frequency mapping in cases of FRBs. An analytical treatment of Lyutikov (2020) is presented. The frequency dependence of the drifting rate and the drifting timescale are obtained. The aberration effect and the twist of the magnetic field lines may result in drifting in both directions. For one FRB, the burst width is larger at lower frequency according to the radius-to-frequency mapping. For the FRB population, the magnetic fields of the repeaters may be larger than that of the non-repeaters. Then, according to the radius-to-frequency mapping, the burst widths of the repeaters will be wider than that of the apparent non-repeaters. If similar window function (or emission cones) like that of pulsars and magnetars is also at work in the case of FRBs, then the window function may explain the single or multiple components of FRB profiles. The radius-to-frequency mapping modeling is to some degree independent of the underlying radio emission mechanism.


Flood is one of the most frequently occurring natural disasters in Indonesia. At the end of 2017, Tropical Cyclones Cempaka and Dahlia formed over the Indian Ocean, inducing extreme rains and floods in some parts of Java Island. The Special Region of Yogyakarta was among the most affected areas, especially along the Oyo River section in Imogiri District. This research was designed to identify and map the flood-prone areas in the district as part of flood mitigation measures. For this purpose, The Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) technology was used to not only provide a detailed and up-to-date description but also produce aerial photographs (orthoimages) and Digital Elevation Model (DEM). These two products were inputted to the inundation modeling developed with a geomorphic approach and simulated in a Geographic Information System (GIS). In terms of accuracy, the resulting models were quite reliable for mapping on a detailed scale and only slightly deviated from the traced inundation in the field. Also, five areas (sub-village) were found with the highest vulnerability to floods, namely, Trukan, Butuh, Dogongan, Siluk Satu, and Kedung Miri.


This is an investigation around the essence of the design and the designers in Plato s dialogue, Philebus. Here we reached a provisional understanding, but essential, about the activity itself of the designer and their products, namely: the d?miourgik? fantastic and the phantoms psychics similars-to-truth re-created by anthr?poi. These two ideas constitute a contribution to the foundation of a philosophy of design, inasmuch as from these it is possible an original approach to it.


AbstractIn this study, a joint-probabilistic interval multistage programming (JIMP) method is developed for planning water resources management under uncertainty. The JIMP method can tackle uncertainties presented in terms of interval parameters in objective function and constraints, in addition to random variables in the left and right-hand sides of constraints. It can also reflect the dynamics in terms of decisions for water resources allocation through transactions at discrete points of a complete scenario set over a multistage context. Moreover, the JIMP method can be used for analyzing various policy scenarios that are associated with different levels of economic consequences when the promised water-allocation targets are violated. The JIMP method is applied to a real case of planning water trading for supporting the regional sustainable development of the Kaidu-Qongque River basin, which is one of the most arid regions of China. Monte Carlo simulation is introduced into the JIMP framework for evalua...


Angiography of the coronary arteries has been of great importance in the last few years and is now being increasingly accepted as a method of investigation. A number of series have already been published in which the complications were so few that they were not considered to constitute contra-indications even in patients with very advanced changes in the coronary arteries (2,3,4, 11, 12, 15, 16). Cardiac reactions, however, such as arythmias, ventricular fibrillation, and asystolia, of serious and even fatal character, have been reported by several authors (4, S, 15, 16). Even if it may often be difficult to ascertain the direct cause of a complication, it is logical to assume that the degree of toxicity of the roentgen contrast medium plays a role in the appearr-ance of undesirable reactions. For coronary angiography, the 3-iodinated contrast media have been used almost without exception. These media are mainly characterized by higher content of iodine and lower toxicity as compared with the older 2-iodinated contrast media. It has been shown by PORTSMANN (1963) and GENSINI & DI GIORGI (1964) in animal experiments that the degree of toxicity distinguished the various 3-iodinated compounds on the market to-day. The purpose of the present investigation was to make a comparison of the


This paper describes three-dimensional (3D) micro structures fabricated using a simple self-assembly process involving the thermal shrinkage of polyimide. The proposed method enables hinged structures automatically to be rotated out of the wafer plane and to remain bent without the need to use any interlocking mechanisms. The hinged structures were fabricated using surface micromachining techniques involving heating in a furnace. An increase in the bending angle due to the shrinkage of polyimide was observed with increasing heating time, heating temperature, and length of the polyimide hinge. Of these three parameters, the heating time was found to be the most suitable for control of the bending angle. Microcubes were fabricated by this method and the self-assembly process was successfully visualized using a CCD camera. Furthermore, the hinged structures were actuated in external magnetic field after the self-assembly.


THE ANALYSIS OF PICOGRAM MATERIALS RETURNED BY SAMPLE-RETURN MISSIONS. A. Lanzirotti1, M. Newville1, S. R. Sutton1,2, M. Koker1, A. J. Brearley3, E. Dobrica3, O. Tschauner4.1Center for Advanced Radiation Sources, Univ. of Chicago, Chicago, IL 60637 (email@example.com), 2Dept. Geophysical Sci., 5734 S. Ellis Ave., The University of Chicago, Chicago, IL 60637, USA; 3Dept. Earth and Planetary Sciences, University of New Mexico, Albuquerque, NM 87131; 4Dept. Geoscience, University of Nevada, Las Vegas, NV 89154.


A very severe frost with temperatures down to -6.00C in July 1975 in the region of Botucatu, Sio Paulo State, caused not only damage to crops but also to natural vegetation. The frost damage to woody cerrado plants was studied on 40 tree species and 10 shrub species. A frost-damage index for each individual was obtained, and the average index for each species calculated. Of the 50 species, 9 were not damaged, 9 were damaged slightly, 17 moderately, 13 substantially, and 2 totally. The average index of frost damage for species was 8.3 percent. In a 400 m2 plot where all the individuals were counted, the frost damage was only 5.8 percent per individual. It was shown that species which are less resistant to frost are less frequent in the area. In many cases a clear relation between the degree of frost damage of species and their geographical distribution could be seen. Species which are distributed more to the north and which in Sio Paulo have their most southern occurrence were nearly totally or substantially damaged. Species which occur also to the south of Sao Paulo State, but whose genus as a whole has its distribution center in northern, warmer regions, had notable damage too. Species which occur in the Brazilian Planalto Central, and which in some cases go even further south than the State of Sao Paulo, showed negligible or no damage. Of two species of the same genus, the more northern species was more damaged and less frequent than the southern species. Frost seems to be one of the selective factors influencing the floristic composition of the cerrado at its southern limit. TH.E PRESENT PAPER gives the results of a study of the damage to "cerrado" (semideciduous xeromorphic woodland) plants by frost, which was carried out in the municipality of Botucatu, Sao Paulo State, Brazil. The city of Botucatu is situated on the Serra (Cuesta) de Botucatu, which in places reaches about 950 m altitude. The plateau is principally formed of Botucatu sandstone, yielding in general a poor sandy soil. The southern side of the Serra forms a steep slope, whereas the northern and northeastern sides slope more gently. The area was originally covered by semideciduous, mesophyll forests, cerrados, and some strips of natural grasslands bordering gallervforests, these distributed in mosaic fashion. The natural vegetation, however, is now widely replaced by cropland and pastures. The climate of the Serra region at about 800 m altitude is characterized by an average yearly precipitation of about 1350 mm and an average temperature of 19.4?C. A rainy season from October to March, with 1100 mm average precipitation, alternates with a dry season from April to September with 250 mm average precipitation. The average monthly temperatures increase abruptly from July, the coldest month, with 17.50C, to September with 20.6?C, then more steadily to January with 21.7?C, and decrease slowly to March and then more abruptly to June and July. The absolute maximum of monthly temperatures for the years 1959 to 1968 was 34.5?C in September and 27.5?C in June. The absolute minimum in the same period was 10?C in October to May, decreasing to O.1?C in August (Tubelis, Nascimento and Foloni 1971). Corresponding values for the lower parts of the Serra, such as where the following observations were made, would be slightly different, but are not presently available. In July 1975, the region of Botucatu. like large parts of south and southeast Brazil, was exposed to the lowest temperatures in 57 years. The resulting frost not only caused damages to crops such as coffee, sugar cane, bananas, etc., but also to the natural vegetation. Frost is a more or less regular phenomenon in the State of Sao Paulo. Since 1892 about 26 frosts have been registered, 12 of which are dassified as severe, 3, including the last one, as very severe, and the rest as moderate (Anonymous 1975:4). BIOTROPICA 9(4): 253-261 1977 253 1 Current address: Botanisches Institut, Universitit Wien, Rennweg 14, A-1030 Wien, Austria. This content downloaded from 188.8.131.52 on Wed, 28 Sep 2016 04:24:43 UTC All use subject to http://about.jstor.org/terms The minimum temperature measured in open vegetation on July 18, the coldest day of the year, was 5.8?C at Fazenda Sao Manuel (a few km SW of city of Sao Manuel at about 700 m altitude). This fazenda is 12 km SW of the studied area at an altitude 150 m higher. The vegetation of the Serra de Botucatu plateau (highest elevation at Rubiao Junior, about 950 m) was damaged more than the surrounding lower region. Forest and cerrado vegetation showed significant symptoms of damage. Leaves died on most trees, causing a brown, dry appearance of forest and cerrado. Frost damaged the leaves, branches or even whole trees of many species. Some other species, however, showed no damage. About two months later, but still before the first rains, the old leaves had fallen, and new ones had sprouted that turned the landscape to a fresh, light green. MATERIAL AND METHODS The frost damage to woody species of the cerrado vegetation was studied in the municipality of Botucatu, in an area 18 km north of Botucatu and 14 km east of Sao Manuel, at 22045'S, 48025'W. It is situated on the northern spur of the Serra de Botucatu on a slight elevation, at an altitude of 550 m. The average temperature, therefore, is slightly higher than that of the city of Botucatu, whose climatic data were previously given. The whole study area of about 60 hectares is a remnant of natural vegetation, more or less undisturbed for at least the last five years. The cerrado varies from denser tree and scrub woodland form (low "cerradao") on top of the elevation to a semi-open tree and scrub woodland form ("cerrado" sensm stricto) on one slope (Fig. 1), to a quite open scrub form ("campo cerrado") on the opposite slope, which is separated from the first slope by a narrow valley with a low scrubby gallery forest. The area was visited twice: first, a few days after frost to see the actual frost damage to leaves and buds, and the second time two months later, to see where on the plants new buds had sprouted and what part of the trees had definitely died. In an area of approximately 1.5 hectares of cerrado sensmr stricto, 151 individuals of 50 different woody species were examined, including 40 tree species of the 45 tree species occurring in this part of cerrado and 10 shrub species. The number of tree species and the delimitation of what we call tree or shrub are based on a quantitative study of this cerrado (Silberbauer-Gottsberger and Eiten, in preparation). The families and species involved are given N ..:v ... .. .::SS.::e.R FIGURE 1. General view of the semi-open tree and scrub woodland ("cerrado" sensa stricto) at the end of the dry season. The tall trees in front are Sclerolobium aureum and Styrax tferuginea.


A successful judicial affairs program combines legal considerations, accepted standards of professional practice, and student development principles. Despite the complexities of this area, judicial affairs remains a vital, significant part of student affairs work.


Simone de Beauvoir's The Second Sex, published in 1949, was in some ways a book before its time. It inaugurated the discussion of themes that were taken up actively only with the beginning of the so-called "second wave" of the feminist movement, towards the end of the 60s. Basic political rights for women, secured in most states by the 40s, had failed to achieve much more than the nominal recognition of the principle that gender and citizenship were categories that ought to have nothing to do with each other. It was the struggles of the 60s in the civil rights, student, and the third world movements for a liberation going beyond the formalities of official equality which gave the immediate impetus to the appearance of the new women's movement. At this point, with the need for theoretically rethinking the position of women still all too "prone," as Stokely Carmichael notoriously attested The Second Sex really came into its own.' It supplied a brilliant analysis of the various limitations to which western women have been subjected through history, both in the actual conditions of their lives and in the ideologies through which these constraints are maintained.


Abstract : The complex and heterogenous nature of the hospital operations often posed a coordination and integration problem to computer system managers. This problem was further aggravated by the continued rising cost of operating and maintaining the information systems. Recent advancements in technology, however, helped to address these problems through the networking of computers. The use of a local area network (LAN) to link these systems opened up the potential for cost-effective distribution and coordinated sharing the information. This integration of different computers would also provide the users with additional computer functions previously unavailable. To help management at Wright-Patterson AFB Medical Center (WPMC) select the appropriate functions, this thesis focused on the medical personnel's perception of the usefulness of four network functions that had been successfully implemented at other medical centers. The order of preference for these functions, based on statistically analyzed data from eight departments at WPMC, are as follows: data base management system, electronic mail, network access capability, and medical diagnostic system. The administered questionnaire and method of analysis are presented, along with the results and their implications.


As an important part of higher education, higher vocational education takes the responsibilities for developing labor resources, transporting practical talents to society directly. Higher vocational teachers are the main reliable force of higher vocational education; they play a decisive role in putting innovation education into operation and training new technical personnel. But higher vocational education starts later and faces more difficulties than higher education, so the teachers are under too many psychological troubles or behave abnormally, but these may get improved.


We conducted broadband seismic observation of six artificial explosions on November 30, 1995, in the Unzen volcanic region. We installed three broadband seismometers (STS-2) and two short-period vertical seismometers (L-22D) at three observation points to study the shallow structure of the Unzen volcanic region. At all the three observation points, seismograms could be recorded for all the six explosions. By comparison of waveforms and spectral data at the three observation points, we identify a highly attenuating area of P wave at frequency higher than 6 Hz in the west of Fugendake. Comparing seismograms recorded by STS-2 with those by L-22D, the difference in the response of both seismometers at frequency lower than 2 Hz has little effect on the recorded waveforms. Apparent P-wave velocity is slow around Fugendake but high in the west of Fugendake, compared with other areas in the Shimabara Peninsula. The value of Q -1 , which represents the attenuation of amplitude of direct P wave with propagation distance, is large in the frequency range of 4-10 Hz in the whole Shimabara Peninsula. Dividing the Shimabara Peninsula into three subregions and comparing Q -1 in each region, the value of Q -1 is remarkably large only around Fugendake but not in the west of it. In a wide frequency range, temporal decaying factor of S-coda wave (Q -1 c around Fugendake is larger than that in other areas. The above regional variations express very complex geological structure, particularly in the west of Fugendake where a magma ascent path is proposed underneath. We suggest that the metamorphosis, due to the magma rising from deep in a western shore of the Shimabara Peninsula to the summit of Fugendake, attenuates seismic waves propagating deep in this area while P-wave velocity is rather high and the attenuation is not necessarily strong near the surface. Meanwhile, around the summit of Fugendake the velocity is low and the attenuation is large even near the surface.


Abstract : A theoretical model capable of describing the flutter and divergence of a tube conveying high velocity fluid is developed in this study. The nonlinear effect due to tension induced by bending is considered along with other linear forces. The partial differential equations by Galerkin's method and the time histories of the tube motion are evaluated numerically. Numerical results for the thresholds of flutter instability and the mode shapes of a cantilevered tube are in good agreement with those obtained theoretically and experimentally be other investigators. (1) A static or divergence instability occurs at a certain critical fluid velocity if the tube is simply supported at both ends. At higher fluid velocity, the tube becomes dynamically unstable. The limit cycle oscillations of the cantilever tube and the characteristics of the simply supported tube motion predicted by the present nonlinear analysis remain to be verified quantitatively be experiment.


Using polyhedral oligomeris silsesquioxane(POSS) with eight amine salt groups(oaPOSS) as the raw material,a series of oaPOSS-based macromolecular emulsion adhesives was synthesized by copolymerizing of POSS and different polyurethane prepolymers.The hybrid emulsions were characterized with IR spectra ,X-ray diffraction analysis,TEM and particle size distribution analysis.The hybrid emulsion adhesives have stable properties and the value of further research and development.


The Institute of Botany of National Academy of Peiping was a famous botanical institute during the period of the Republic of China. Extensive prewar activity of collecting plant specimens from north and northwest China was going on by the Institute. Based on the specimens collected by it,the Institute focused on field taxonomy,botanical geography,fungus and flora of north China. In November 1936, under the joint sponsorship of the Institute and the National Northwestern Agricultural College,the Botanical Survey of Northwest China was planned and organized at Wugong in Shaanxi Province, with the aim to do research work on the plants of northwest China and their economic value. Before the outbreak of the War of Resistance Against Japan, the Institute was able to get away from Peiping with both its personnel and equipments and resume its activities in the far interior province of Shaanxi. In 1944, a part of the personnel came to Kunming. During the War, the Institute laid stress not only on pure botany, but also on applied botany. Making use of historical archives and relevant documents, this paper attempts to narrate its origin of the foundation and evolution, general situation of work in different periods, research achievements , and analyze the contribution of the Institute in the biological history of modern China.


In this paper, we present an approach to student's evaluation in a well-defined domain based on a semantic network. A similarity matrix based on the semantic memory structure of humans is used to build a semantic distance model in order to describe an assessment technique to evaluate the student's state of knowledge. Our aim is to facilitate a deeper conceptual understanding of domain principles. We are developing a new student model including an assessment module with DistSem model.


The commissioning of the beam transfer systems for LHC included detailed aperture measurements in the injection regions and for the beam dump systems. The measurements, mainly single pass, were made using systematic scans of different oscillation phases and amplitudes, and the results compared with the expectations from the physical aperture model of the LHC. In this paper the measurements and results are presented and compared with the specified apertures in these critical areas.


Determination about a location or non-location of a service centre in some areas will affect the systems effectiveness for next several years. For finding the optimal solution it is possible to apply an exact method, but only for the known costs. When we solve location problems, for the most of them we have no real future costs, only their gross estimates. So it is necessary to deal with the approach of a location problem solving under uncertain costs.


Similarity measurement of data in high-dimensional spaces is an important problem in most current research domains such as data mining,information processing searching, etc..After the summarization and analysis of the characteristics of high-dimensional data and existing typical measurement methods,this paper proposes a new measurement approach based on a special grid splitting strategy.In order to illustrate the efficiency of the proposed method in high-dimensional spaces,a quantitative analysis is given in the paper. Experiment indicates that this method is efficacious.


Malaria is still a leading cause of death around the globe. The disease severity is due to toxic factors elaborated by the blood stage Plasmodium falciparum. Host innate immune system plays a major role in controlling parasite infection through the production of proinflammatory cytokines. These inflammatory responses are also thought to be responsible for malaria pathogenesis. The glycosylphosphatidylinositols (GPIs) of the parasite and hemozoin (HZ), a polymer byproduct formed by the degradation of hemoglobin by the parasite for its nutritional need, have been proposed as key factors involved in proinflammatory responses. However, HZ is deposited in the digestive vacuole, which is released into bloodstream upon burst of the infected RBCs. Thus, the digestive vacuole but not HZ should be the target of immune system. Recent studies have shown that the P. falciparum GPI‐induced production of proinflammatory mediators by macrophages occur through TLR2/MyD88 signaling pathway, involving downstream MAPK and NF‐kB pathways. However, practically no information is available regarding cell signaling by the parasite digestive vacuole and its ability to induce proinflammatory responses. We studied inflammatory responses and cell signaling mechanism to the intact digestive vacuole and free HZ in mouse bone marrow‐derived macrophages lacking various TLRs. Our data show that the intact digestive vacuole but not the pure HZ could induce proinflammatory responses in macrophages. Biochemical analyses show that the parasite plasma and digestive vacuolar membranes have distinct profiles of GPI‐anchored proteins. The results of these immunological and biochemical studies will be presented.


Abstract We introduce a new class of coupled sequential fractional differential equations involving Riemann–Liouville and Caputo derivatives, integral and nonintegral type nonlinearities and equipped with coupled multi-point boundary conditions. Existence results for the given problem are derived by means of Leray–Schauder nonlinear alternative and Krasnosel'skiı̆'s fixed point theorem, while the uniqueness of solutions is established via contraction mapping principle. Examples illustrating the main results are presented.


Flow simulation analysis of alternating up and down discrete v-ribs with varying parameters is planned as research problem. The Alternating Up and Down Discrete V-ribs is considered and the height, angle and pitch are varying parameters of the geometry to analyze the output variables in the terms of heat flux. Variable are taken as, Pitch(30mm to 60mm), Height of Roughness(2mm to 5mm) , Angle of V (45 to 120 degree). The aim is to identify optimized parameters to achieve maximum Heat Flux. The software used is SolidWorks for modeling and analysis of the problem considered. FEM simulation software, SolidWorks version 17 (Flow Simulation mode) has been used for simulation. Flow simulation module has been used in present work. This module predicts the outlet temperature, velocity, flow behavior to great accuracy due to application of thermal loading on the work piece.


The direct torque control (DTC) suffers from high torque and flux ripples due to the use of hysteresis comparators. In this paper, an alternative method is presented for induction motor drive known by the model Predictive Torque Control (PTC). This technique includes the inverter model in control design and does not use any modulation block. The optimal selection of inverter switching states minimizes the error between references and the predicted values of control variables by the optimization of a cost function. Consequently, it reduces ripples and solve DTC drawbacks. Furthermore, this paper proposes an improvement in the external speed loop for PTC scheme. A fuzzy logic controller replaces the traditional PI controller to ensure more accurate speed tracking and increase the robustness against disturbance and uncertainties. The effectiveness of the presented algorithms is investigated by an experimental implementation with the aid of real-time interface (RTI) based on dSpace 1104.


OBJECTIVE To analyze the monitoring results of carbamazepine serum concentration in 381 cases of 347 patients.METHODS The carbamazepine serum concentration was measured by fluorescence polarization immunoassay.The carbamazepine serum concentration in 381 cases was compared and analyzed and the clinical effect and adverse drug reaction of the patients were observed.RESULTS There were 311 cases(82.1%) whose carbamazepine serum concentration were between 4 and 12 mg·L-1.Among 311 samples,there were 274 cases who were used with carbamazepine separately and 37 cases who used combination carbamazepine with other antiepileptic drugs,there were 91.6% (285/311)of them whose epilepsy were controlled on the whole or made betterand 3.9%(12/311)of them who appeared adverse drug reaction. There were 51 cases (13.4%) whose carbamazepine serum concentration were less than 4 μg·mL-1. There were 19 cases(5.0%) whose carbamazepine serum concentration were more than 12 mg·L-1 and 84.2%(16/19) of them appeared serve adverse drug reaction.CONCLUSION It is reasonable that the therapeutic window of carbamazepine serum concentration is between 4 and 12 μg·mL-1. The therapeutical drug monitoring of carbamazepine is the important measure which ensures the clinical effect and safety in the medical care.


IT enabled Services (ITeS) have charted tremendous growth in India over the last two decades. Over the years, the service domain has evolved to include high-end services as well as traditional services. Along with fresh opportunities, the evolving service landscape brings new challenges for the service providers, with quality being the prime challenge. As the nature of services change, new determinants of service quality emerge. Towards this aim, this research paper presents a fresh perspective of determinants of service quality in high-end ITeS by integrating elements from traditional service quality models and frameworks with issues related to technology and organizational relationship management. The research involves a two-phase study. Findings from the literature survey and a qualitative study are used to identify the determinants of service quality and to create a hypothetical model. Based on data collected from senior executives of Indian service providers, the second phase of the study presents a regression model of the determinants. The combined linear effects of the determinants were found to account for 76.8% of the variation in success of high-end ITeS projects. The regression model highlights the critical and significant role played by Knowledge Management, Technology Management and Service Design and Delivery in service quality. The findings further highlight the potential of mechanisms for capturing and re-using organizational learning in reducing service quality gaps. The strategic implications presented in the paper will provide a starting point for service providers aiming to engage in providing high-end IT-enabled Services.


Patients with ANCA-associated vasculitis (AAV) are known to have an increased risk for the development of malignancies, which has been largely attributed to immunodeficiency or side effects induced by immunosuppressive treatments. Because there is a considerable latency period for cancer development after exposure to immunosuppressive treatments, little data are available on the incidence of cancer for large cohort of patients with AAV and long follow-up. The aim of this study is to describe the cumulative incidence of cancer in patients with AAV who participated in the European Vasculitis Society (EUVAS) therapeutic clinical trials from 1995 to 2012.

 A total of 848 patients with AAV from 17 European countries were included in the present study. Information was retrieved from questionnaires sent to the principal investigators of the original RCTs (MEPEX, NORAM, CYCAZAREM, CYCLOPS, IMPROVE, RITUXVAS and MYCYC).

 Among the total of 848 patients (median follow-up: 8 years, IQR: 2.2–8.8), 149 patients were diagnosed with 181 malignancies. The 10-year cumulative incidence of cancer was estimated at 20.6%. The median duration of start of AAV therapy-to-time of cancer diagnosis was 4.96 years (IQR: 2.24-8.83). The most common cancer types were skin cancer (37.4%), out of which 6 were melanoma and 62 nonmelanoma skin cancer, followed by gastrointestinal cancer (12.6%) and prostatic cancer (9.9%). Patients who developed cancer were significantly older at randomization than those who did not (62 ± 12 versus 57 ± 14 years) (P < 0.001). Considering both remission-induction and remission-maintenance therapies, 94% of the patients received cyclophosphamide, 68.4% azathioprine, 28.2% mycophenolate, 11.4% methotrexate and 10.4% rituximab during the observation period. A total of 6 out of the 28 patients, who were treated with rituximab and two pulses of IV cyclophosphamide as induction therapy, developed cancer. Diagnosis of cancer significantly predicted shorter survival (log-rank = 9.2; P = 0.002).

 Our findings, which were derived from a large number of patients with AAV enrolled in clinical trials over the past 25 years, estimate the 10-year cumulative incidence of malignancies following the start of AAV therapy at 20.6%. The development of cancer is tightly associated with decreased survival. Analyses of standardized incidence ratios, using the cancer incidence of the background populations as reference, are underway.


Ethyl 6-chloro-5-cyano-2-methylnicotinate (4) was coupled with 4-piperidinecarboxylic acid (isonipecotic acid) in 81% yield to pyridine acid 10. An amide coupling between 10 and benzylsulfonamide (6) afforded AZD1283 (1) in 79% yield using CDI as coupling reagent. The synthesis has been developed and scaled up to 20 kg batches of 1, supporting preclinical and clinical studies. Development work towards 2-chloropyridine 4 and benzylsulfonamide (6) is included.


From the results, it shows that there was no significant changes (P>0.05) compared with the control in the consumption of the contaminated diet with pestox insect powder indicating that the increased concentration of pestox insect powder did not significantly (P>0.05) affect the palatability of the diet. The results showed that the animals (rats) gained weight, the contamination of the diet with pestox insect powder notwithstanding. The result also showed that there was significant increase (P 0.05) in the 1st and 2nd week compared with the 3rd week where there was significant difference (P<0.05) between the control group and 1%, 5%, 10% and 15% contamination groups. The experimental results suggested that the level of toxicity of pestox insect powder depends on the level of exposure in respect to various concentrations and time dependent.


Fuel cell as a renewable energy source is considered to be one of the most promising sources of electrical power. The characteristics of fuel cell is such that the DC power extracted from it is at low voltage level, this paper proposes a prototype of a power electronics based fuel cell emulator. It can effectively replace a real electrochemical fuel cell stack. The power stage of this new fuel cell emulator consists of a dc-to-dc buck converter. The emulator interfaced with boost converter and simulated using MATLAB/SIMULINK. The fuel cell emulator performance was evaluated for changes in fuel flow rate and load, and the simulation matched with the experimental results. In this thesis a new MPPT algorithm is proposed, the step size is automatically tuned according to operating point and it is eventually tuned to zero.


We study the effect of an asymmetric environment on risk sharing. In our model, entrepreneurs consider undertaking risky projects in the real sector as well as selling part of their projects to investors. To capture the idea of an asymmetric environment, the returns on the alternative risk-free investment are allowed to differ between the entrepreneurs and the investors, i.e., agents have different opportunity costs of participating in the risky projects. We first show that the presence of asymmetric options establishes links between the risk-free and risky sectors as well as between the real and financial sectors. In particular, an asymmetric environment implies that the amount of risk sharing depends on the risk-free rates and the expected return of the risky project. Moreover, the level of real investment also depends on the risk-free rates. Second, we show how different risk-free rates may encourage or discourage risk sharing, and even prevent risk sharing altogether.


Co-occurrence of autism spectrum disorder and very early onset schizophrenia: a case report Very early onset schizophrenia (VEOS) is a chronic and debilitating psychiatric disorder and has received too little attention in the medical literature. Previous studies have suggested that VEOS had a tendency of a worse prognosis and outcome than adult onset schizophrenia. Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is a life-long impairing heterogeneous disorder, characterized by severe and pervasive impairments in multiple areas of psychological development. Co-occurrence of ASD and VEOS is reported very rarely in the literature. This paper reports on a case diagnosed as ASD with a VEOS comorbidity. With this case report, it is aimed to review the differential diagnosis, common and different clinical features, neuroimaging findings and genetic and environmental etiologies of these two psychopathologies in the light of the literature.